雅思写作生活方式和社会观念话题41

Topic 41: Today, people are getting greedy and selfish. Some people argue that we should go back to the old days, and show respect for the family and community, so that we can make the world a better place to live in. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

 

利己主义（egoism)指的是做事情只考虑个人利益，而忽视其他人的利益（disregard the well being of others)。很多人将利己主义看作是个人主义（individualism),这不是很确切，因为个人主义一般只是指一个人在行为上我行我素，未必一定事事以个人利益为前提。个人主义的反义词是集体主义（collectivism),或者共享主义（communalism),即强调资源共享；而利己主义(egoism)的反义词是利他主义（altruism),即个人意志服从集体的意志（submit his or her own will to the general will)。在哲学和社会学学科内，关于集体主义好还是个人主义好，目前尚无定论。然而，可以肯定的是，不管东方还是西方社会，人们还是倾向于利他主义。

 

强调利己主义（egoism)的好处：

 

·每一个人都有权利去做符合自己利益的事情（do what is in one's own self-interest),以便更有动力去实现个人的目标和追求喜好的东西（unrestricted pursuit of individual goals and desires);

 

·过分考虑社会利益或过分强调集体主义会阻碍一个人寻求自我发展、突出自己和创造性的

动力（hinder one's pursuit of self-development,excellence and creativity)。

 

强调利己主义（egoism)的坏处：

 

·人们如果不将他人的幸福考虑在内（refrain from taking the well-being of others into consideration),会影响与他人的团结（solidarity);而人们很多时候需要家人和朋友的支持；

 

·自私的行为最终会伤害自己（Self-interested behaviour is to hurt individuals themselves.);

 

·人们应该对家庭负责（duty-bound to family)、对社会负责（have a responsibility to society),这样有助于家庭和睦、社会稳定、人民安居乐业。

 

范文

 

 

Perhaps the tendency toward individualism has never been clearer than it is now. People seem to become increasingly self-centred and snobbish. I side with those people who believe that reviving the bygone concept of family and community is important.

 

 

The rise of egoism has profound consequences on the unity of a family, causing the breakdown of family solidarity. Every component of a family can be detrimentally affected, if one member is egoistic" Blood is thicker than water " , as an old saying indicates . People will turn to family first if they are confronted with problems. People used to live in a community in which they lived according to an ethos of sharing and caring, but nowadays, members of a family tend to work separately for their individual benefits. They are ignorant of the fact that families not only give them tangible benefits (e. g.financial aid), but also offer emotional support from which they obtain strength, comfort and confidence.

 

 

Egoism also causes people to ignore the good of the community, a problem that is disruptive to the community. So greedy are some people that they can go so far to engage in illegal activities. For example, some merchants earn handsome incomes from producing disqualified products and cajoling people to buy what they do not actually need. They, meanwhile, refuse to plough back any fraction of their income to the community. Individuals become indifferent to others' interests and the relationship between individual members tends to become superficial, transient and ad hoc. People remain as onlookers when neighbours ask for help, and social solidarity has been dismantled in front of the overwhelming egoism.

 

 

As shown above, greedy and egoism are set to bring both the society and the families in grav trouble. The best way to prevent people from further loss in social solidarity and community unity is to reconstruct the concept of family and community, show esteem to one's family, friends, neighbours and even acquaintances, and recover a sense of community and social cohesion.

 

 

近义词表

1.self-centred=selfish=egoistic:自私的，以自我为中心的

2.side with=support=back:支持，和…站在一边

3.bygone=past=onetime:曾经的，过去的

4.tangible=touchable=concrete:切实的，具体的，实在的

5.obtain=gain=acquire:获得

6.the good of the community:社区的利益

7.handsome-sizable-considerable:可观的

8.disqualified=banned=prohibited:不合格的，被禁的

9.cajole-entice=wheedle:哄骗，劝诱

10.plough back-reinvest:再投资，重新投入

11.superficial=cursory=shallow:肤浅的，泛泛的（交往）

12.transient=fleeting=brief-temporary=transitory=short-lived=ephemeral:短暂的

13.ad hoc=unprepared=unplanned=improvised=informal:毫无准备的，随缘的

14.onlooker=bystander=watcher.旁观者

15.reconstruct=rebuild=restructure:重新建立

16.acquaintance=friend=colleague=associate:熟人，朋友，同事，合作人

17.cohesion=solidarity=unity:团结